Goals only hold meaning if you stay connected to them. With the close of Q1 and the burgeoning of spring, both intellectually and physically, you may find yourself with an infusion of energy. With this movement towards gaining a fresh view, it is a fertile time to revisit your goals and see if you’ve made any forward movement. After the initial goal setting at the beginning of the year, checking back on all that you have been aiming for (not just the dollars and cents) is often something people forget or don’t make time to do. Whether it’s the department you are leading or your own individual aspirations, carving out time for checking in lets you know how in or out of alignment your daily activities are in supporting your future vision.
But what if you haven’t seen any progress? In that case, the first question to ask yourself is if your goals are still relevant. Even more importantly, do you feel ownership with them enough that these goals inspire you? By the way, write those questions down and then let yourself freely write what comes to mind. The process creates the space for obstacles to make themselves better known. Being able to clearly see the sources of resistance helps the mind to begin to identify what is needed to work through the challenges, whether they are pushing in from the outside or are more internal, stemming from our own self-limitations, biases or fears.
On the other hand, what is you have seen progress? You are seeing that improving communication with your staff has decreased the number of mistakes made out in the field and now you now are highly aware that the changes you made have mattered. If you see that not much has changed, it’s an opportunity to revisit, get feedback and adjust your plan instead of wasting time doing what doesn’t work.